Friday, June 09, 2017

Blog Kiosk: 6/9/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Last night the Dodgers hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation's third annual Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium (featuring Maroon 5 and Earth, Wind & Fire on stage), and it was a star studded affair. Along with normal cast of current and former Dodger players in attendance you could find folks like Larry King, Mario Lopez, Eric Stonestreet and members of the Los Angeles Chargers milling about. Per Ryan Posner at MLB.com:

"This event has been pretty incredible over the last few years in helping build the foundation," Adrian Gonzalez said. " [The gala] is definitely a lot of fun and it's doing great things for kids in the Los Angeles community."
...
"It's kind of nice to get out of your element of baseball for a minute and do something like this," Seager said. "It's definitely pretty cool to have the concert in the outfield, too."

This Day in Dodgers History: In 1919 Dodgers starter and Hall of Famer Rube Marquard breaks his leg running the bases
during the game against Cincinnati, ending his season. This next one is wild. In 1945 it was alleged that a recent medically discharged soldier was assaulted by Dodger manager Leo Durocher as he was being held by a Brooklyn patrolman during the sixth inning of that afternoons ballgame at Ebbets Field. He sustained a fractured jaw and other wounds. It is alleged that he was heckling Brooklyn's manager during the game. Durocher would be arrested the next day on felonious assault, but charges would be dropped soon thereafter after the fan receives over $6,000 from the Dodgers for his injuries. Branch Rickey would later defend Durocher, saying we are a "team of ferocious gentleman." In 1955 the Dodgers traded Joe Black to the Reds for Bob Borowski. In 1990Eddie Murray hit a home run
from both sides of the plate in the game against the Padres in San
Diego. Having done this for the tenth time in his career, he ties a MLB
record with Mickey Mantle.

The 2017 Amateur Draft begins this coming Monday and the Dodgers are slated to pick at the 23rd, 62nd, 100th and 130th picks in the first four rounds. Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com; "Dodgers may target lefty pitchers, third basemen."

First-round buzz
MLB.com's latest mock Draft projects the Dodgers taking University of Missouri right-handed pitcher Tanner Houck with the 23rd overall pick. Houck was drafted in the 12th round in 2014 by the Toronto Blue Jays, but he didn't sign and went to college. Expecting to be taken higher, he had the details of his selection -- "RD12/PK354/BLUEJAYS'14" -- tattooed on his left wrist for motivation.

Last Friday, the right-handed Font struck out 10 of 20 batters he faced over 6.0 innings against Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate Colorado Springs (box). Last night, Font added seven more strikeouts against 23 batters in a game against the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa City (box). The result of those two starts? This: 12.0 IP, 43 TBF, 17 K (39.5%), 1 BB (2.3%), 7 H, 1 R. That’s quite good.

This feels like a nothing move, but it could be much more than that. Yesterday the Dodgers selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Fabio Castillo and optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. It appears the club was afraid of losing the reliever. According to Eric Stephen at True Blue LA he had recently received interest from a foreign team; thereby triggering an opt-out clause in his contract. I suspect they believe that he'll be of some use for the big club. Per a Dodger press release:

Castillo, 28, has gone 3-4 in 12 combined games (seven starts) with Triple-A OKC and Double-A Tulsa, posting a 3.27 ERA (16 ER/44.0 IP) and one save, while striking out 41 batters against 13 walks in 44.0 innings. He has spent the majority of this season with the OKC Dodgers, going 3-3 with one save in nine games (seven starts) and posting a 3.65 ERA (15 ER/37.0 IP), while holding the opposition to a .224 average (30-for-134).

Castillo, who was a non-roster invitee during this year’s Spring Training and is in his first year with the Dodger organization, has gone 35-54 with 25 saves and a 4.43 ERA in 347 games (57 starts) over 11 minor league seasons with the Rangers (2006-12), Giants (2013), Orioles (2014), Reds (2014), Padres (2016) and Dodgers (2017) systems. The Samana, Dominican Republic, native was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Texas Rangers on July 2, 2005.

Here's another one of those great videos featuring Big League Stew's impresario Mike Oz opening up 25-year-old baseball cards. This time he chases down former Dodger infielder Dee Gordon. Go here to check it out.

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“There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey. There’s nothing like it in sports. I don’t care that I’ve never been anywhere else. I don’t care. There’s nothing like wearing a Dodger jersey.” -- A.J. Ellis